BICC - Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies

BICC - Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies Dedicated to research and policy advice on the conditions, dynamics and consequences of violent conflicts. 🌍 Worldwide. The Center is headed by a Director.

As an independent, non-profit organization, BICC (Internationales Konversionszentrum Bonn – Bonn International Center for Conversion) deals with a wide range of global topics in the field of peace and conflict research. Program Areas
The six following areas form the framework for BICC’s work
• Security—Stakeholders, systems, threats
• Arms—Global trends, exports, control
• Resources and conflict


• Migration, conflicts and security
• Base conversion
• Data and GIS (Geographic Information Systems)
These areas are mutually complementary and enable diverse thematic and methodological synergies. BICC’s Work
BICC’s portfolio includes applied research, advisory services and capacity development. Partners, donors and Clients
BICC receives institutional funding from the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). This funding enables the Center to perform research projects and research-based policy advice with funding from a variety of donors. Other partners, donors and clients are
International and German research institutes; international and German foundations; the United Nations and other international organizations; Federal Ministries such as the German Foreign Office (AA) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and institutions such as the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb); international and German NGOs; international and bilateral organizations in the field of development cooperation. BICC
BICC makes use of its research work to operate as a think tank, offer (policy) advisory services, and help develop capacity. BICC collects and publishes information, brings out expert reports and other publications, and thus offers its services to NGOs, governments, private organizations, research institutes and universities as well as to the interested public. BICC is co-editor of the annual “Friedensgutachten” (Peace Report) and of a series of international research publications (Sustainable Peace and Global Security Governance). BICC organizes regular exhibitions, conferences, workshops, and discussions with experts. The Center sets out to make more people aware of its central topics through its public relations work. BICC was founded as a non-profit limited company in 1994 with the support of the Land of NRW. Shareholders are the State of NRW and Brandenburg. The Center’s governing bodies are the Supervisory Board, the Board of Trustees and the International Board.

📢 Call for applications: PhD scholarship at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn for a dissertation related to...
12/06/2026

📢 Call for applications: PhD scholarship at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn for a dissertation related to carbon credits and conflict. Apply by 21 June 2026.

The scholarship is part of the “Violent Futures?” project (a sub-project of the "Future Rural Africa" project), which examines how future-oriented carbon credit projects shape social relations and conflicts in Kenya and Tanzania. The dissertation examines whether and how carbon credit projects mitigate or intensify existing conflicts related to nature conservation. To this end, candidates are expected to conduct long-term ethnographic research on conflict constellations in Tanzania and Kenya.

Duration of Scholarship: 41 months
Monthly stipend: 1,475 €
Start date: ideally 1 August 2026
Application deadline: 21 June 2026

"Violent Futures?" is a joint project between Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, bicc - Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies, Universität zu Köln, and Mzumbe University.

Learn more on the "Future Rural Africa" project website: https://crc-trr228.de/call-for-applications-phd-scholarship-violent-futures-contestations-along-carbon-frontiers-in-east-africa/

Just published: Peace Report 2026!Imperialist power politics is reshaping the landscape of war, peace, and security. Sta...
08/06/2026

Just published: Peace Report 2026!
Imperialist power politics is reshaping the landscape of war, peace, and security. States are increasingly acting like warlords and using war as a political tool. Transitions from violent conflict to peace are treated as “deals”; middle powers such as the Gulf states are emerging with new self-confidence but an ambivalent course; and technological innovation is transforming warfare and making regulation more difficult. At the same time, international cooperation in peacekeeping—such as in development cooperation or within the United Nations—is in the midst of its most severe crisis. Domestically, racist attitudes are also on the rise in Germany. The 2026 Peace Report analyses options for promoting peace nonetheless.

Available in print and as an Open Access download from . Learn more at www.friedensgutachten.de (Language: mostly German, with the recommendations and opening statement also in English)

Local governance in Afghanistan has been fundamentally transformed since 2021—and this has important implications for de...
03/06/2026

Local governance in Afghanistan has been fundamentally transformed since 2021—and this has important implications for development actors.

Since 2021, the Taliban authorities have systematically dismantled elected community councils, replacing them with governance structures led by loyal religious appointees. This policy brief examines the trade-offs development actors face between access, inclusion and legitimacy—dilemmas that cannot be fully resolved, only continuously managed.

Read our recommendations here ➡️https://shorturl.at/DOUcF

Flucht ist eine der größten Herausforderungen unserer Zeit. Der ‚Report Globale Flucht‘ beleuchtet das Thema aus verschi...
02/06/2026

Flucht ist eine der größten Herausforderungen unserer Zeit. Der ‚Report Globale Flucht‘ beleuchtet das Thema aus verschiedenen Perspektiven, kritisiert unzureichende Asylpolitik und vermittelt konstruktive Lösungsansätze. Der Bericht erscheint jährlich im Rahmen des Verbundprojekts ‚Flucht- und Flüchtlingsforschung: Vernetzung und Transfer‘ (FFVT). Ein besonderer Fokus liegt dieses Jahr auf der Wechselwirkung zwischen Flucht und Klimawandel.

Zu den Herausgeber:innen des Berichts zählt auch der bicc-Forscher Benjamin Etzold. Die Publikation enthält zudem ein Gespräch zwischen ihm und dem South African Refugee-led Network. Darüber hinaus steuern die bicc-Forschenden Osman Bahadir Dincer und Zeynep Şahin-Mencütek ein Kapitel über die Herausforderungen der Rückkehr syrischer Geflüchteter in ihr Heimatland bei.

Der Report ist erstmals kostenlos als Open Access verfügbar ➡️ https://shorturl.at/rIYVk

Armed conflict, militarisation and the impacts of resource extraction are disporpotionally affecting Indigenous communit...
27/05/2026

Armed conflict, militarisation and the impacts of resource extraction are disporpotionally affecting Indigenous communities on , Philippines, not only in their daily lives but their cultural continuity.

This project explores the daily dimensions of peace through the framework of ‘peacescapes’, understanding how peace is imagined, practised and sustained through Indigenous knowledge systems, cultural practices and eco-relational worldviews, while examining how these visions and practices evolve amid broader social and political change. In an effort to bridge academic research and civil society , the project partners with Mindanao State University and Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc. -Basilan to contribute to decolonialising methodologies and support grassroots advocacy.

Find out more about the project ➡️ https://shorturl.at/DHfQL

In his new journal article, bicc Fellow Ryan Swan explores the Thucydides Trap—the tendency towards conflict between an ...
26/05/2026

In his new journal article, bicc Fellow Ryan Swan explores the Thucydides Trap—the tendency towards conflict between an established power and a rising one. He examines implications for the present US–China rivalry, showing how global influence is increasingly defined outside the defence realm. He argues that heavy investment in traditional defence buildups can ultimately lead to disadvantage in contemporary power competition by yielding ground in other pivotal domains. The article shows how the United States fell into this 'new' Thucydides Trap, inadvertently facilitating China’s relative rise.

Read the full article ➡️ https://shorturl.at/1woqp

Global armament dynamics remain uneven, despite rising military spending worldwide.The Global Militarisation Index (GMI)...
21/05/2026

Global armament dynamics remain uneven, despite rising military spending worldwide.

The Global Militarisation Index (GMI) maps the relative weight and importance of a country’s military apparatus in relation to its society as a whole and currently covers 151 countries. It aims to contribute to the greater debate on the benefits and risks of militarisation worldwide.

This year's GMI highlights the regional differences—Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remain the world's most militarised regions—and how factors such as financial resources, military personnel and active conflict zones shape varying levels of militarisation across states, while military spending elsewhere is stagnating relative to civilian benchmarks such as economic output and health expenditure.

Read the GMI 2025 ➡️ https://shorturl.at/PPqhJ

Warum reagieren die Golfstaaten auf Irans Angriffe bislang so zurückhaltend?Trotz Waffenruhe werden die Vereinigten Arab...
20/05/2026

Warum reagieren die Golfstaaten auf Irans Angriffe bislang so zurückhaltend?

Trotz Waffenruhe werden die Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten und Saudi-Arabien weiterhin von Iran attackiert, reagieren militärisch jedoch bislang zurückhaltend. In diesem Tagesspiegel-Artikel erklärt bicc Researcher Marius Bales den schmalen Spagat der Golfstaaten zwischen einer glaubwürdigen Abschreckungsfähigkeit und der Vermeidung eines größeren regionalen Krieges.

Mehr dazu ➡️ https://shorturl.at/Ena0l

How can a decolonial, Middle Eastern perspective on the study of conflict resolution and reconciliation go beyond formal...
19/05/2026

How can a decolonial, Middle Eastern perspective on the study of conflict resolution and reconciliation go beyond formal legal systems and form a possibility for change in Peace and Conflict Studies?

The aim of this project is to centre local actors in southern and northern for an epistemological view into the practices of ṣulḥ and muṣālaḥa—long-standing societal practices of conflict resolution—as concepts across generations and colonial borders. Instead of prescribing an academic epistemology or theory, this project aims to trace how these practices are learned, transmitted and reshaped over time while asking whose voices are recognised in the processes of mediation and reconciliation.

Find out more about the project ➡️ https://shorturl.at/GWxME

Experiences from post-war Yugoslavia are highly relevant for current policy debates on refugee returns.Despite vast inte...
19/05/2026

Experiences from post-war Yugoslavia are highly relevant for current policy debates on refugee returns.

Despite vast international investment in democratisation, peacebuilding and minority return programmes, outcomes have been mixed. In today's post-conflict settings, funding is more limited, many contexts are non-democratic, and conflicts have lasted far longer than the Yugoslav secession wars. Sustainable return demands more than resources—it requires security, stable governance and genuine pathways to reintegration.

Read our recommendations ➡️ https://shorturl.at/xy9yY

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